The Pirate Princess: Return to the Emerald Isle by Matthew Morris Page B

scuba dive when she turned eleven. Meg had been snorkeling for as long as she could remember, but swimming around the surface of the water with a big plastic tube in her mouth never was as cool to her as diving deep for hours with a tank. She had been very much looking forward to reaching the age of eleven so she would finally be able to go down and dive with her mom. The crazy thing was, even though Meg finally got what she had been waiting for forever, all she could think about at the moment was what had occurred earlier that day and the compendium that hung around her neck.
    Meg stared down at the oversized ornament. On her small frame, it looked a bit silly. “Mom, what is this letter on the front?”
    “It’s a G in Gaelic script.”
    “What does it stand for?”
    “I don’t know, and have always wondered that myself. Your Nanny would always smile and change the subject whenever I asked her. Maybe it’s the initial of one of our ancestors or maybe she doesn’t know.”
    Meg took her eyes off the compendium and looked out on the water. The setting sun was shimmering on the surface of Fishers Island Sound making the island look as if it was magically floating out in the distance. She looked at her family and her gifts and decided that it had been a good birthday, even with all of the strange events.
    They left the restaurant just after the sun set, sailing back home in the dusk, and were almost back to “Sweet Haven” when the weather suddenly changed. Clouds came in from nowhere and it started to rain, just as Nanny had predicted. The wind picked up and thunder clapped in the distance as they pulled the boat up to their dock. No one bothered to get into the foul weather gear Shay had packed; they just tied the boat up and ran into the house through the downpour. By the time everyone got in the door, they were soaking wet and tired from the day’s events. They all retreated to their rooms and went to sleep, not noticing that the answering machine on the kitchen counter was blinking.

9  
Want to Go Somewhere?
     
    Meg woke up the next morning a little groggy from a night of heavy dreaming. Although she had had many dreams during the night, she remembered only one. She was swimming under water and below her in the sea bed she could see the compendium resting in the sand. She was swimming as hard as she could but there was a strong current pushing her away from her birthday present and she was unable to reach it. The shining brassy object eventually disappeared into the dark water in front of her and she was heartbroken for losing it. After the dream Meg shot up in bed, reaching out from her covers in panic, only to be comforted upon seeing the compendium on the nightstand where she had left it.
    Meg dragged herself out of bed and took the compendium in her hands. She went to put it on but decided that i t was too big for her to wear all the time, so she placed it at the bottom of her old toy chest that was now filled with books. She went downstairs for breakfast.
    Everyone except Meg’s sister was at home. They were all very busy when Meg reached the kitchen. She walked in unnoticed, trying to figure out what was going on. Her mom was on the phone and her father was on the computer. Eileen was probably at soccer practice and Sean was in his high chair crying for attention. Meg made herself a bowl of cereal, poured a glass of orange juice, and sat down at the table to listen to the conversation that was going on around her.
    “I know I promised you a delivery by next week, but a family matter has come up and I won’t be able to get them to you until the week after… I know you ’re desperate, but as you know, I’m a one-woman show, so if I’m not around there are no scallops…Try the distributor…I know they’re not as good, but you are just going to have to wait.”
    Meg’s mom was obviously doing business, but what has happened that she’s unable to make her deliveries? And her dad, who normally by